The Lost World

Rating:
Summary: It was good.
Review: I understand everyone else's view on this book, but I'd have to disagree on a view things. I can agree that this book did have some thin characters and such, but give some credit. When a writter wants to put forth his or her ideas about topics, they have to work them into the story line. Crichton obviously used Malcome as his puppet. That was his way of informing the reader about his theories and ideas. I give Crichton credit for that. It takes talent to work that into a story. I do a lot of writing myself and it's a tough thing. Although, this book did start out slow. Getting them to the island was tedious and took a lot of thinking on teh reader's part to understand. The fight scenes were rather random, but good to read nonetheless. I ending sort of left stuff hanging in the open. Too much chance of more people finding the island. As much as I liked the books better then the movies, the Lost World movie at least closed it with something final. They didn't just leave a dinosaur inhabited island in the middle of the Pacific for random people to find. Even if it does leave it open for further books. <shrugs> Either way, I anticipate the third movie because I have a love for dinosaurs, and hope to read a third book sometime, no matter how thin or random.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Mystery
Review: A good mystery leaves the solution in plain sight. Misdirection is afavorite tool used by authors to keep readers looking at the wrongthings. Michael Crichton carries it one step further, though. Hedoesn't tell us what dastardly deed is being committed. But, it too isin plain sight. So, let's try to solve the mystery.

Ian Malcolm,newly resurrected from Jurassic Park (the book), enters in his usualfashion by declaring the debate over a meteor impact as the cause ofdinosaur extinction to be "frivolous and irrelevantspeculation" - a typical Alpha Intellectual marking histerritory. This is the first misdirection - focus reader's attentionon dinosaurs' extinction. Next, Ian suggests that complex animalsbecome extinct because of changes in their behavior. The reader, oncruise control, might naturally think that dinosaurs are the complexanimals being considered. But, is that really what the author meant?Let's see.

Exhibit 1 - Sarah Harding never met a man she didn'tpity, despise, or hate . . . hardly endearing qualities to take tobed. She works diligently to lure 11-year old Kelly into her web ofthinking.

Exhibit 2 - Ian Malcolm and Richard Levine have all theircreative juices trapped in their brains, so nothing is available forsharing with females.

Exhibit 3 - Arby, a Black 8-year old geniuswith a model set of parents (both doctors), spends his time with theWhite tribe, thus abandoning his own culture.

Exhibit 4 - LewisDodgson and his like-minded cohorts want to make money the oldestfashion way, to steal it.

On the other hand, dinosaurs have familyvalues, love and care for their young, stick with their tribe, andcooperate with other tribes when advantageous.

These details shouldbe sufficient to solve the mystery. However, if some readers stilldon't get it, Crichton throws out a very broad hint. He introduceschameleon dinosaurs, beings that fade into their backgrounds so wellthat unsuspecting victims never know what hit them, or ate them, asthe case may be. People who think - the opposite sex is one of God'smistakes, spinning theories is more important than more earthyactivities, culture isn't important, or honesty is for fools - fadeinto our societal backgrounds, waiting to pounce on victims who don'thave a clue.

Pitted against this array of chameleons is Doc Thorne,mechanical engineer and university faculty dropout. He throws alifeline to Kelly, telling her not to worry too much about theoriesafter she endures yet another diatribe of doom from Ian. She is a rayof hope that Michael Crichton leaves with us . . . a person who maystay in the mainstream and help bring forth anothergeneration.

Thus, the mystery is solved. Extinction of humans isthe dastardly deed. Behavior . . . of humans . . . is the weaponused.

Rating:
Summary: Just Another Overblown Chase
Review: This book is proof that Crichton can sneeze on paper, sell it, and make millions. Lost World is nothing more than another long series of chases, each set up to be another great movie scene. Many of the reviews below mention the many plot flaws in this book (i.e. Ian Malcolm's rendition of Lazarus) So instead I'll focus on Crichton's writing and character development, which are respectively, bad and nonexistent. Crichton's characters all speak like encyclopedias, each one of them spouting technical information in long endless streams. And more annoyingly, they seem to speak in long drawn out sentences of technical gibberish without regard for the fact that they are being attacked by a T-Rex or being surrounded by Raptors. Man, I wish I could stay that cool under pressure! Ian Malcolm, fresh off his return from the dead, spends one incredibly laughable scene making several page long proclamations about how scientists are bad because they research and research without regard for the outcome and long term effect of their work while, obviously not as importantly to Malcolm, he has taken up residence in a vehicle being attacked by dinosaurs.

Every character has the same "voice" and are cardboard cut-outs. Whenever Crichton wants to spew out some information, he'll have one of the characters inform the reader. This technique doesn't always work, as Crichton doesn't really seem to take much care in determining which character, for example, is the "dinosaur expert" and which one is the "mathemitician." So, Malcolm in LW is suddenly knowledgable about dinosaurs and another character will spout out some random and esoteric information when the "plot" calls for one of the characters to inform the reader. Crichton has always had trouble creating real characters, but he really loses it in Lost World.

Yeah, there are action scenese, but they seem like randomly occuring chase scenes without any attempt to tie them into a cohesive plot. The plot of LW is excrutiatingly simply: Good guys (including Malcolm, his girlfriend, and two annoying brats) are on the island trying to get off while bad guys (sent by the big bad corporation that is still trying to market these dinosaurs) are also on the island. Both good guys and bad guys are being chased by dinosaurs, who this time aren't fenced it. The good guys are trying to get to the place on the island where they can get picked up by a boat that will take them to safety. That, my friends, is the plot. Along the way, dinosaurs attack and chase them. When the action slows, Crichton throws in a scene where the bad guys purposely seek out a TRex and and character who the dinosaur version of a PETA activist who wants to free the dinosaurs. It sounds, and reads, like a video game, but with less depth.

My suggestion: if you must read this book, do what I did: borrow it from a library, borrow it from a friend, just don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Great writer, Lousy book
Review: One of the worst books ever written. Lacks continuity with the original Jurassic Park. Also lacks any form of insight or depth. Best thing about it is the title, stolen from Arthur Conan Doyle.

Rating:
Summary: Written purely for the money
Review: Michael Crichton has never been a terribly innovative or remarkable author. He has little to no skill with characterization, and is usually content to let his cardboard cut-outs wander about in his plots and technical jargon.

Often, this can lead to entertaining, if not precisely thought-provoking reading. THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN is a great adventure story. As is SPHERE, although it should stand as the supreme example of how a book that literally begs to be made into a movie sometimes shouldn't be.

But LOST WORLD is different than Crichton's previous publications. His characters are still wafer-thin, but now, Crichton has dispensed with plot as well, and the result? A very boring read.

JURASSIC PARK did not need a sequel, it worked fine on its own. But the movie was successful. So a sequel is needed. And which character in the movie was best? The Jeff Goldblum character, who was so entertaining that the filmmakers decided he should live, not die as in the novel. So how to overcome this dilemma in the sequel? Simple: Ian Malcolm never really died in the novel! Everyone only thought he died! Including the author! Brilliant!

This is taking 'cynical' to new depths. This novel was written with no thought other than the bottom line, which is money. Oodles and oodles of money. Great heaping gobs of money, which should make up for the fact that there is no other earthly reason for this story to exist. No plot. No characters. Just Burger King tie-ins and a new house in the Carribean for the author.

Rating:
Summary: The Lost World: Jurrasic Park
Review: I must say this book kept me on the edge of my seat. At least most of the time. At parts it did get boring, referring to the parts in which Malcom was on the morphine, and when he was explaining things. But other than that, it was intense. The Parasours at the beginning had me scared, and Richard Levine was so casual. The raptor attacks were so well detailed, I was amazed. The trailor scene was a story in itself. Very suspenseful. This was a great book, and I have read many Michael Crichton books, and he did a very good job on this book.

Rating:
Summary: THe Lost World
Review: THe Lost World was a suspensful and riviting novel. It starts off alittle slow but always keeps your attention. The technology is very advanced but yet very believeable. IT is very different from the blockbuster move manly in the beging. Much more detail which makes it much more interesting. If you like dinosuars and adventure you should definatly read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Totally great!
Review: This was the first book i read from Micheal Crichton and i thought it was totally awesome! When i saw the motion picture i was a little disappointed, the book is so much better... In the book they went to the island after like 200 pages. In the movie it's in like 5-10 min :) Also in a book you have this great scene when a Trex runned after a motercycle, like many scenes this wasnt happening in the movie. If you like crichton and you liked the lost world(movie) you must read this one for sure...

Rating:
Summary: The Lost World
Review: This book is an awesome one. It really amazed me. It is 20 times better than the motion picture. In fact the events are completely different. My opinion after reading the book is that the motion picture was horribly made. It really takes a lot for me to rate something so high. The reason for this is because I really don't enjoy reading but, this really caught me from the beginning. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: Much, much better that the movie of course. This book was so entertaining that 3 of my friends and I were reading the book at the same time. The suspense, fantasy and the beautiful setting of the tropical forest are all there. Another important point is the author's scientific reaserch put into the story. Great work! So, read the book and then watch the movie.

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